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The Business
Research
Process:
An Overview
4-3
Learning Objectives
Understand …
• That research is decision- and dilemmacentered.
• That the clarified research question is the
result of careful exploration and analysis
and sets the direction for the research project.
• How value assessments and budgeting influence
the process for proposing research, and ultimately,
research design.
• What is included in research design, data collection,
and data analysis.
• Research process problems to avoid.
4-4
Purpose of Research
Reduce the
level of risk
of a
business
decision.
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Evaluating the Value of Research
Decision Theory
Option Analysis
Prior or Interim Evaluation
Ex Post Facto Evaluation
4-6
The Business Research Process
The sequence is just
for guidance and is not
necessarily one after
the other.
• Recycling
• Skipping
4-7
Problem Formulation
• The formulation of a problem is far more
often essential than its solution, which may
be merely a matter of mathematical or
experimental skill. To raise new questions,
new possibilities, to regard old problems
from a new angle requires creative
imagination and marks real advance in
science
Albert Einstein
Stage 1: Clarifying the Research
Question
Management-research question hierarchy process
begins by identifying the management dilemma
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Hierarchy
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Management Dilemma
• Symptoms of a problem
•
•
•
•
•
Increasing cost
Decrease in sales
High worker turnover
High defect rate
Increase in customer complaints
• Why is our sales in the East coast decreasing while
in Sabah and Sarawak is increasing?
• Sometimes it is not very difficult to identify the
dilemma but is difficult to decide which one to focus
on
4-11
Management Question
• Statement of the management dilemma in
a question form
• Example:
• How can we increase the sales in the East coast
region?
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Categories of Management Questions
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Research Questions
• Research questions are our choice
hypothesis based on our objective.
• A more specific management question that
needs an answer
• Facts and information collection oriented
• Should we introduce a new commission rate?
• Should we do an advertising campaign in the East
coast?
• Should we change the packaging format?
4-14
Investigative Question
• Question that needs to be answered for the
researcher to make a satisfactory conclusion
about the research question
• What is the possibility we will lose some salesmen
when we introduce the new commission rate?
• What is the possibility that the customer
satisfaction in the East coast region will reduce
when the new packaging format is introduced?
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Measurement Question
• The actual questions that we pose to the
respondents
• Please state your feeling based on the new
commission rate that was introduced: 7 = Very
worried, 4 = Not sure, 1 = Not worried at all
_____
_____
_____
_____
Unpredictable monthly salary
Increased internal competition for sales
Less time for after sales service
Less incentive to do after sales service
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Stage 2: Proposing Research
Budget Types
• Rule-of-thumb
• Departmental
• Task
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The Research Proposal
Purpose
Legallybinding
contract
Methods
Written
proposals
establish
Obligations
Extent
Timing
Delivery
Budgets
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Stage 3: Research Design
4-19
Stage 3: Designing the Research
Research
Design
The
Research
Project
Sampling
Design
Pilot Testing
4-20
Stage 4: Data Collection
Collecting Sensitive Data
Demands Safeguards
Scotts used a
healthcare
management
company to collect
sensitive wellness
data during annual
health assessments
to preserve
participant
confidentiality.
4-21
4-22
Data Characteristics
•
•
•
•
Abstractness
Verifiability
Elusiveness
Closeness
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Stage 5: Data Analysis and Interpretation
4-24
Steps in Data Analysis and Interpretation
Reducing data to manageable size
Developing summaries
Looking for patterns
Applying statistical techniques
© 2002 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin
4-25
Stage 6: Reporting the Results
4-26
Parts of the Research Report
Research
Overview
Executive
Summary
Research
Report
Technical
Appendix
Implementation
Strategies
4-27
The Research Report Overview
Problem’s background
Summary of exploratory findings
Research design and procedures
Conclusions
4-28
Research Process Problems to Avoid
•Ill-defined management
problem
•Unresearchable questions
•Politically-motivated
research
4-29
Research Process Problems to Avoid
•Company Database
Strip-Mining
•The FavoredTechnique Syndrome
4-30
Research Proposal
• A formal effort to carry out research,
usually written, stating the problem that
will be tackled and the plan to solve the
problem.
4-31
Role of a Research Proposal
• Present the problem that is being
researched and why it is important
• Discuss research efforts of others who
have done research on similar issue
• To propose that data that is required to
solve the problem
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Sponsors of research
All research must have a sponsor
• In the corporate sector, the management
is the sponsor
• In the academic sector, the student is
responsible to the teacher
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Benefits to Sponsor
• Ensure the researcher understands the
problem that needs to be researched
• Acts as a control mechanism
• Allow the manager to evaluate the
research method that was proposed
• Helps the management to gauge the
relative value and the quality odf the
research being proposed
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Benefits to Researcher
• Ensure that the problem being researched is
what the management wants to be researched
• Allow the researcher to plan and evaluate the
steps involved in their research project
• Acts as a control mechanism for the duration of
the research
• Forces an estimation of time and budget
• States the agreement between the research and
the management
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Type of research proposals
• Students
• Internal
• External
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Complexity
How to structure a research
proposal?
• Develop modules
• Combine and collapse modules to suit
the client
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Modules in a research proposal
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Executive Summary
Problem Statement
Research Objectives
Literature Review
Significance of research
Research Design
Data Analysis
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continued ...
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Expected findings
Researcher Qualifications
Budget
Schedule
Equipment and special requirements
Project Management
Bibliography
Appendices
4-41
Executive Summary
• Allow a busy manager to understand the focus
of the research
• The goal is to attract the manager’s attention
and to form a positive opinion
• Must include the management dilemma,
management question, objectives/research
questions, and the benefits of the proposed
research design
4-42
Problem statement
• Problem might only be an interest towards
a particular issue where the objective is to
get an answer that may help rectify the
situation.
• Definition:
“Any situation where there is a gap
between the real situation and the ideal
situation”
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Problem Statement/Definition
1. An existing problem where the manager wants to
find a solution
2. Situations where it is not a problem currently but
the manager feels it can be improved
3. Fields where conceptual “clarity” is needed for
better development of theory
4. Situations where the researcher is interested in a
particular topic and would like to answer the
research question empirically
Managers appear to be unfamiliar with personal computer
processes and are unaware of what MIS offers
4-44
Symptom vs Problem
• A manager observes that the productivity rate is
low. So he increases the piece rate, but meets
with little success.
• So here low productivity is the symptom not the
problem
• What maybe the problem?
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Research Objectives
• This section explains the purpose of research
• Related to the research problem module and gives
the sponsor a specific and concrete goal that can be
achieved
• List the objectives from general to the specific ones
• Verify consistency by evaluating whether each
objective is discussed in the research design, data
analysis and the discussion of findings
Does extent of knowledge of the usefulness of MIS
influence the use of MIS?
To what extent will knowledge of the usefulness of MIS help
managers to put MIS to greater use?
4-46
Literature Review
Literature review involves the systematic
identification, search, and analysis of
documents containing information related
to the research problem
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Developing Literature Review
Data Set B
Related Issues
Data Set A
Main Topic/Issue
Sub-theme X
A Theory
Sub-theme Y
B Theory
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Documents
• Documents inclusive of
 General Sources
Newspapers, magazines, etc
 Secondary Sources
Books, research evaluations, etc
 Primary Sources
Journal, abstract, etc
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Conducting the Literature Review
• Identify sources that are relevant
– Bibliography databases
– Abstract databases
– Full text databases
• Extracting relevant materials
• Writing the literature review
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Reason for the Review
•
•
•
•
Identify what has already been done
Help in the planning of what needs to be done
Gives the rationale for further research
Identify research strategies and procedures and also
specific effective measurements
• Helps to avoid mistakes done by earlier researchers
and build upon their strengths
• Help in interpreting the data from the research
4-51
Types of review
• Inclusive
• Identify and list all that has been written about the
issue
• Inclusive/Evaluative
• Extent the first method to give commentaries about
the coverage and contribution to knowledge and
the understanding of the topic being researched
• Exploratory
• Look for researches available to help in the solving
of specific research question or issue
4-52
Types of review
• Instrumental
• Main focus is related to business issues and the
review is used as idea how the research question
can be answered. Also to identify the appropriate
methodology.
• Content Analysis
• Evaluates the content of the review.
• Counting how many times the word “management
of change” is mentioned in a review
4-53
Consideration when writing a review
• More does not necessarily mean better
• Parts that has been extensively
researched need not been focused at
length
• Parts that are new needs to be focused
more
4-54
Benefits of the review
A good review ensures:
•
•
•
•
•
Important variables are not left out
A clearer idea about the research
Replicability of the findings can be increased
The problem statement can be stated clearly
No time is wasted on researching something already
extensively researched
• The problem being investigated has some scientific value
4-55
Writing a review
• Read other researchers review
• Build a theme from general to specific
literature
• Use a common system.
• Discussion should follow the research
question
• Use a simple framework as guide.
• Practice leads to perfection
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Why is the review important?
• Shows that the researchers knows what
he/she is doing
• The research framework is built based on
previous literature and strengthened with
new and emerging knowledge
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Sample 1
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Sample 2
4-60
Significance/Benefits of research
• State the benefit of the research
• Emphasize why it should be done now
• This section needs you to understand the needs
of the sponsor
• This module is important in the external
research proposal as you have to convinve the
sponsor that your plan will fulfill their needs
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Research design
• This module explains the technical details of
what you will be doing
• Gives information about design which includes,
sampling, data collection technique,
instruments, procedures and ethical
requirements
• If there are more than one appraoch then you
need to justify why you chose one over the
other.
4-62
Data Analysis
• Method used by the researcher (software
& techniques)
• Gives the choice of techniques and their
assumptions
• The most problematic module
• Very important especially in external
proposals
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Expected Findings
• This section should be aligned with the
management question and also the
objectives
• State the data that needs to be collected
and the interpretation that will be done
• Statistical conclusions, application of
findings, recommendations. Action plan,
models and strategic plans are examples
in this module.
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Researchers Qualification
• Professional research experience
• Relevant managerial experience
4-65
Budget
4-66
Critical Path Method (CPM)
4-67
Gantt Chart
MindWriter
Project Plan
What to be included in the
appendix?
• Glossary of concepts, constructs and
definitions
• Sample of measurement instrument
• Other materials to reinforce the main body
of research report
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4-69
Evaluating research proposals
• Must be neatly written
• Topics must be easily found and arranged
logically
• Must conform to the guidelines of the
sponsor
• Technical writing style should be
understood by the reader
4-70
Ten common mistakes in research
proposals
1.
2.
3.
4.
Data collection not properly controlled
Weakness in research design
Limitations are not revealed
The research design cannot answer the
research question
5. Unsuitable respondents selection
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continued ...
6.
7.
8.
9.
Results not properly presented
Wrong analysis techniques used
Research paper not clearly written
The assumptions are not clearly
explained
10. Method used is very simple or not
explained
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What is important in this chapter?
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Importance of problem statement
Hierarchy of Management-Research question
How to evaluate the value of a research?
Characteristics of data
What is a research proposal?
Reasons for writing a research proposal
Type of research proposals
Contents of a research proposal
How to evaluate a research proposal?